The UK Backgammon Federation
A top backgammon Giant described the recent match series between Cary Hoarty (USA, age 20) and Kentaro Meijo (Japan, age 16) as some of the best backgammon he had ever seen, while world #1 and commentator on the match, Masayuki Mochizuki (Mochy) lamented surely, given their strength at such a young age, he would soon become a dinosaur of the game!
With his Mochy Challenge, hosted by Backgammon Galaxy, the talent of young players is being brought to the fore, and we should all take notice.
Rick Janowski writes:
I have the greatest pleasure in announcing that Sebastian Wilkinson, of the UK, has been awarded the prestigious title of Grandmaster (Class 3), following his devastatingly brilliant performance at the recent BMAB Ranking Tournament at Long-Eaton, UK. He aggregated an astonishing PR score of 2.72 in the two-day event comprising six 11-point matches. This score is the greatest achieved over a 2-day event by a clear margin.
Originally published at BluffEurope.com – reproduced with thanks. We’ve previously featured Andy’s other articles from Bluff Magazine, Does playing backgammon make you a better poker player? and The Poker Link 2: Making bluffs in Backgammon.
Forget the WSOP – the serious action took place in Monte Carlo in the summer as the World Backgammon Championship came to town.
Poker has had an enormous surge in popularity in recent years, and whilst backgammon has had its moments, it has sadly not been on a similar scale. This may be because people think they’ve cracked the game. Meanwhile, the emergence of artificial intelligence programs means there is more distinct analysis of whether a move in backgammon is right or wrong. However, this is a flawed concept, as the number of positions available to play, the roll of the dice, and the state of the cube raises a massive range of probabilities.
With the 2017 Manchester Open just a few days away, Gregge Madan looks at the varied backgammon scene in and around Manchester:
Not only is Manchester famous for a rich musical history rocking on from Herman’s Hermits, the Hollies through 10cc, Joy Division, cruising through Oasis and James and ending up at Stone Roses. Now it is also becoming famous for ROLLING – backgammon rolling. There has been an accelerated growth in backgammon within Manchester and surrounds and this is epitomised through not only greater numbers playing but also the fact that many of the country’s top players are from the area.
Since the implementation of BMAB three years ago, Mochy has maintained an incredible level of play, never letting his PR average fall below 2.90. More recently he has pushed his performance rating to reach an astonishing level of 2.40 measured over 300 experience points, not only achieving the title of Super Grandmaster, but with a clear margin of 0.10 below the 2.50 benchmark.
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